Each year Mrs. Careyís 3^rd grade class at Rhoades Elementary studied Mexico. Her students communicated with Mrs. Quintanillaís students at the American School in Mexico City during the project, 'Mexico: Our Southern Neighbor.' 

Student Objectives for 'Mexico: Our Southern Neighbor':

1. Students will recognize the need for information and formulate questions based on information needs.

2. Students will identify a variety of potential sources of information, develop and use successful strategies for locating information, and select and organize information appropriate to the problem or question at hand.

3. Students will produce and communicate information and ideas.

4. Students will participate effectively in groups to pursue and generate information and share knowledge and information with others.

5. Students will respect othersí ideas and backgrounds and acknowledges their contributions.

6. Students will use technology as a tool to achieve goals.

Information Literacy & Indiana Academic Standards Met for 'Mexico: Our Southern Neighbor': Grade 3

Content Area Links:

• English:

The students wrote holiday greetings to the Mexican pen pals using a personal letter format. The students wrote a descriptive piece comparing the size & location of the United States with the size & location of Mexico.

• Map Skills and Geography: 

The students used a map of Mexico to identify the location of Mexico City & the American School Foundation. The students compared customs, holidays, & foods of Mexico with customs, holidays, & foods in the United States.

• Literature: 

The students discussed the parts of a story when they read and discussed the novel.

• Technology:

Students used a digital camera & a flatbed scanner to digitize pictures to share on the web page.

• Art: The students constructed piÒatas.

• Music: The students learned the Mexican hat dance.

Activities:

Rhoadesí students began the year by reading about and researching the location and culture of Mexico. Web pages were constructed to help the students access information. Reports about Mexico and their customs were displayed for sharing with the school. At Christmas time the students shared their knowledge about Mexico by inviting other classes to their room. The room was decorated with poinsettias and articles common to Mexico. Students explained information they had discovered in their research. 

Rhoades' students were given the names of a pen pal to write to at the American School Foundation in Mexico City. The students formulated questions and identified sources of information to help them locate their pen pals school in Mexico City and to compare Mexico to the United States. Mrs. Quintanillaís students were sent letters of introduction through email. Both classes collaborated on the study of each otherís cultures through research and sharing this information with the other school through the web page. Mrs. Careyís third grade students wrote about an imaginary trip to Mexico City to visit their pen pal. 

The media specialist used her email to paste in the student messages that had been saved to a shared network folder. Mrs. Quintanilla would receive them on her email. The pen pals from Mexico used their own email accounts to write back to the media specialist's email account. The messages were printed out and given to the Rhoades' students to begin the cycle again. Valentine's Day & St. Patrick's Day messages, as electronic cards, were sent between the students to their pen pals via Mrs. Quintanilla's email.

Rhoades' students were assigned a letter of the alphabet. They emailed their pen pal to have them email them a Spanish word that began with that letter and was inherently Mexican. The Mexican pen pals sent several words beginning with the letter. Rhoades' students wrote down the meanings for the words. They decided which words they would draw. Drawings were done and scanned using a flatbed scanner. The drawings were posted to a web page slide show to share with their pen pals. The web page allowed both classes to view the work.

In the spring, the classes read Ramonaís World by Beverly Cleary and emailed each other as they read the chapters ëtogether.í The media specialist used grant funds to buy a copy of the book for each of the students at both schools. amazon.com was used to deliver the novels to Mexico. Mrs. Carey had the students read and study vocabulary and plot action. Then the students wrote an email about the story asking questions of their pen pals. The emails continued until both classes had finished the book.

In May, Rhoades' students 'met' their pen pals via videoconferencing in the Rhoades distance learning lab. The students from the American School Foundation in Mexico City and the students from Rhoades Elementary were excited to speak to their pen pals after writing to them all year.

Student progress was evaluated using a research rubric, teacher observation, comparison of monthly writing assessment scores, and comparison of language scores from fall & spring achievement testing.